Xpinionated

This fatherhood thing truly is amazing.  I can’t see how any man would not want to be around his child.  I can’t see how any man wouldn’t do anything for his child.  My son can bring me out of a funk with a simple smile or shout, both of which are just as likely to occur at any random moment. 

This morning he introduced a new game showing his mischievous side.  When I’m in the closet searching for another extraordinary Xpinionated outfit, lil Man will either come in there with me or close the door.  He used to close the door and just wait outside.  This morning though he closed the door and all I heard was the pitter patter of little feet off to do something they inevitably weren’t supposed to be doing.  So I turn the handle to let myself out and those some pitter patters come back in a blaze.  He peeks around the door, smiles, and shuts it.  And again, pitter patter.  Back and forth we go, shut and run, run and smile and shut.  Until finally, he opens the door and I throw a shirt of his head making him giggle but also giving me time to get out of the closet (the Logo channel would be so proud!).  Things like this can make any ordinary day something a bit more special. 

For the last three nights, he has decided he is ready for bed.  He lets us know by grabbing one of our fingers to take us on a journey.  We say, ‘Devin do you want to go up up?’  Meaning are you ready for bed and he leads us to the stairs.  Now this isn’t to say that he doesn’t still fight the sleepies but the fact that between 8 and 9, he knows it’s getting close to counting sheep time.  He probably thinks since he has more freedom upstairs since we let him rummage in a couple more rooms than we do downstairs, that if he can just get to the cusp of freedom things will be just as he likes them:  just out of sight of us but not so far that he doesn’t know where we are.  But we think, if we can just get him to sleep……..we usually win……for now.

So we bought a new digital camera as ours had four solid years of service, and coincidentally 4 megapixels of resolution.  Needless to say unless you’re not a digital cam fan, that is nothing.  Today’s average camera is at least 7 megapixels.  Anyway, we were torn between buying a point-and-shoot camera or a dlr camera.  At first, somewhat encouraged by keeping up with the Jones’ so to speak, we were leaning toward the DLR camera….you know the one that people take classes to properly learn.  Then, in January, I stumbled upon an article about the forthcoming Fujifilm s8100FD.  I liked what I read and decided that it was more of an advanced point and shoot which should suit us nicely.

Anyway, long story short (and because the experience with the scam artists Broadway Photo.com continues to piss me off anytime I think of it), here are my early favorite pics:

I am thinking about getting this tattoo on my back.  I have been going back and forth about whether I want to get another tattoo.  If I do get this one though, it means I will need to get a tattoo for every child we have, if I want to be fair and not show favoritism.  Whatcha think?  I may add ‘Lil Man’ above or below it….

From an AJC story regarding the removal of the ad valorem tax: 

Most Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the legislation. However, Rep. David Lucas (D-Macon) warned that lawmakers might wind up starving state coffers by cutting taxes at a time when the population is increasing, along with the need for services.

“You’ve got to fund state government,” Lucas said, “and state government runs off money, not water.”

Uh, Mr Lucas, this is Georgia…we ain’t got no damn water either!!!

As I’m sure everyone this side of Europe is aware, Barack Obama has gained an explosive amount of momentum in his quest for a Democratic Presidential nomination.  Unfortunately, I think a lot of folks, should he go on to win the presidency, are misguided in their thoughts concerning what a ‘first black president’ means.

If it does happen, it is without a doubt a great moment in history.  Years of struggle have led to this potential monstrous historical event.  An Obama presidency would provide validation for several people in terms of how far this country has come. 

To my dismay, though, I fear that an Obama win may be misleading on two counts.  I fear that too many blacks will be voting for Obama simply because he is black.  I voted for Obama as the nominee but not because of his race.  I have a very simple tenet in voting, I try to vote for somebody but I find I am usually voting against others.  In the democratic race, something about Hilary Clinton rubs me wrong.  I think I would have respected her more if she had stood up against Bill Clinton.  Now don’t get me wrong, and this sounds hypocritical, I am a Bill Clinton fan — at least during his presidency.  My reasons are purely selfish, my life seemed more affordable and less stressful when he was in office.  But for Hilary to stand by her man in the situation he got himself into, though somewhat noble at the time, seems like a very politically motivated move in hindsight.  And someone who would use their marriage as a political maneuver doesn’t inspire trust from me.  I didn’t want to vote Republican simply because the past eight years have not left me with a good taste in my mouth, kinda like Lewinsky.

Secondly, there are few examples in history where a U.S. president single-handedly changed the world.  Perusing the internet I’ll see comments suggesting that a change is gonna come for my black sistas and brothas out there because now there’s a black president.  It’s not going to happen.  Nothing happens in a vacuum.  Obama will still have Congress, the Supreme Court, and state Governments to deal with.  Checks and balances — learned it (or at least memorized it for the test) in high school.  Along these lines, we also have the possibility of unrealistic expectations.  If Obama wins and if the change that black folks (an undefined change by the way) expect doesn’t occur, will that tarnish his legacy.  Worse, (and this goes for Hilary as well), will the unfulfilled expectations provide ammunition against the next black or women candidate.  ‘Well ya see what happened when let one of ‘em in office last time’ motto will become rampant. 

What initially made our form of government great is that leadership was elected based on common values, beliefs, and ideals.  Far too often these days, elections are driven by party affiliations and money.  And that makes it a bit difficult to vote and feel particularly confident. 

For the record, I will likely vote for Barack should he win the nomination because a fresh outlook is what I think our leadership needs right now.  If he doesn’t win, I can’t say for sure that I would simply vote Democrat for the sake of party affiliation.  Just can’t do it……I kind of wish there was a black woman running so we could get the ‘firsts’ out of the way!